Surfactant molecules generally comprise a water-soluble moiety (hydrophile) and an oil-soluble moiety (hydrophobe). Various hydrophilic groups, such as polyoxyethylene, polysaccharide, quaternary ammonium, amine oxide, sulfate, sulfonate, sulfosuccinate, carboxylic, and the like, are attached to an alkyl, alkenyl, or alkaryl hydrophobe that usually contains 8 to 20 carbon atoms through different linkage chemistries. The hydrophobe structure affects the properties, performance, biodegradability, toxicity, and therefore the application of the surfactants. Hydrophobes may be derived from natural oils and fats, which are typically linear. Linear hydrophobes are favorable in affording ready biodegradability of surfactants. However, they are limited in providing key performance features of surfactants, such as high solubility, easy handling and good wetting.
Hydrophobes can also be synthesized from petrochemical or coal-derived raw materials. Synthetic hydrophobes include the linear versions that are functionally equivalent to the linear hydrophobes derived from natural oils and fats. One advantage of synthetic hydrophobes is the flexibility of creating various branching structures by using different chemistries and processes. In general, branched hydrophobes help afford surfactants with better handling properties, less stable foam, and enhanced wettability, which are highly desirable features in many applications. The highly branched structure of the hydrophobe however may cause poor surfactant biodegradability. It is believed that a lightly branched hydrophobe may provide a favorable balance between high performance and ready biodegradability for the corresponding surfactant.
Current processes for generating lightly branched surfactants require multiple steps to obtain the desired branching. In addition, such processes typically require the use of more than one starting monomer. Thus, there is a need for a process for preparing surfactants with the same ability to reduce surface tension as the surfactants produced by the current processes, but in fewer steps. Furthermore, there is a need for a process for preparing surfactants from only one starting monomer.